Odawara Castle
Odawara Castle (小田原城) is the home of the Hōjō clan during the Sengoku Jidai period. Due to their wealth and influence, they were subject to several battles with their rivals within the Kantō region. The castle's bountiful surroundings and fierce natural defenses made it a difficult castle to take. Ujiyasu uses the surroundings to his advantage and successfully repels his rivals, Kenshin and Shingen, for a decade. When Shingen retreated from his unsuccessful siege, Ujiyasu's sons pursued his army at Mimasetōge. The castle's defenses during these battles gave birth to its reputation as an impenetrable fortification. Years later, after the Tokugawa and Hōjō dispersed their alliance with one another, the Hōjō's relationship with Hideyoshi began to sour. Ujimasa then opposed Hideyoshi and their aggressions lead to war. Hideyoshi calls upon a massive army to suppress them and leads the Siege of Odawara (小田原の役, Odawara no Jin), also called the Subjugation of Odawara or the Pacification of Odawara. Odawara Castle was the Hōjō's last stand. During the siege of the castle, the Toyotomi army also surrounded one of the Hōjō's nearby castles, Oshi Castle. Suppressing the Hōjō was Hideyoshi's last victorious war campaign. Role In Games Samurai Warriors Samurai Warriors only allows players to invade the inside of Odawara Castle and pits a lone character against the entire Hōjō army. Depending on the scenario, players can either end the family by defeating Ujiyasu or Ujimasa. It is a five-storied castle that has a unique feature on the first and third floor. The first floor has a long runway stationed above a water-filled room. As the players walk onto it, a panel of the runway will mechanically dismantle. If a character falls into the water, they will need to run against the water's current to reach the other end. Spears also jut out from under the southern part of the room to prevent a character from staying in one place. The third floor features six exits, five stairs being fake and one being real. Players may have to defeat a defense captain before accessing a set of stairs. Shingen faces Ujiyasu regarding their broken alliance and the refusal to transfer salt yet he decides to send Yoshimoto in his stead during the Xtreme Legends expansion. Kenshin heads to defeat Ujimasa since the Hōjō threaten his borders. Keiji, in his story, appears before Kenshin and defeats Ujimasa for him. Masamune hears that both Shingen and Kenshin are fighting here and heads to this castle to defeat both of them at once. Kunoichi's version takes place during the Osaka Campaign, as she tries to weaken Ieyasu by attacking the Tokugawa forces within the castle. In Samurai Warriors 2, Odawara Castle focuses on Hideyoshi's siege and is given two different versions of the battle. The western side is controlled by Hideyoshi with the eastern side under the command of Ieyasu accompanied by the Shimazu, Tachibana, Date and Chōsokabe clans. If fighting for the Toyotomi army in the west, players begin by clearing an area to build a new castle. If the area is successfully cleared, Kanbei will arrive with engineers to start building the castle and if it is built, Hideyoshi orders his army to charge. Entering the inner grounds of the castle will trigger various missions to protect allies from the Hojo. Defending allies will help keep morale high. When entering the castle, players must destroy the statues keeping the inner doors closed to open them. After opening the door on the first floor, Kotarō will try to prevent the player to reach Ujimasa and Ujinao. Once he is defeated, players will encounter and kill an impostor Ujimasa. When the impostor is revealed, Ujimasa, Ujinao and other Hojo retainers will appear outside of the castle. Outside, Kotarō will deter the player again. Players must prevent Ujimsa and Ujinao from entering the main camp and the rest of the other officers attacking the newly built castle. If fighting for the Tokugawa army from the east, players defeat enemies outside the castle to place a ram. If the ram is broken, a new ram will appear. When the ram is placed, the player is allowed entry inside the castle walls to defeat the enemies within. From here, players must open the gates for their allies. Once the gates have opened, players can find the enemy's storehouse to further raise allied morale. Players will have a mission to silence the cannons firing at allies near the gate. The stage ends once Ujimsa and Ujinao are defeated. The third installment replaces Ujimasa with Ujiyasu as the universal Hōjō leader and once again features the earlier confrontations of the time period. Kenshin's siege is referred as The Kantō Campaign, and is one of the earliest battles in the game. While the conflict begins with only the forces of Hōjō and Uesugi fighting, Shingen later appears as an ally for the Hōjō. Warriors Orochi In the first Warriors Orochi, Odawara Castle is the fifth chapter of Wei campaign when Cao Pi and Mitsunari betray Orochi. Historical Information Category:Samurai Warriors Battles